Okafor’s jumper gives Hornets 45-44 halftime lead

Emeka Okafor’s short jumper on New Orleans’ final possession gave the Hornets a 45-44 halftime lead over the Spurs.

Greivis Vasquez, making his first start of the season, leads the Hornets with 12 points. Carl Landry added 11 off the bench and Marco Belinelli chipped in with seven as the Hornets’ bench outscored San Antonio, 25-18.

Tim Duncan leads the Spurs with 11 points and seven rebounds. Richard Jefferson has seven and Tiago Splitter tallied six points and three rebounds.

Splitter’s jumper gave the Spurs their largest lead at 28-24 with 10:21 left in the half.

Vasquez provided a dunk before Okafor’s late jumper to account for the final four points of the half and boost the Hornets into the lead.

The Spurs are trying to extend the recent miseries of the Hornets (4-18), who have the worst record in the Western Conference and have lost 12 of their last 13 games coming into Thursday’s contest.

Both teams struggled getting into their offenses early as the margin in the first quarter was never more than four points. The Spurs hit 45 percent and the Hornets hit 44.4 percent in the quarter.

The Spurs have been lethargic offensively with two shot-clock violations and almost two more. They will have to wake up or the Hornets might be able to sneak out of town with what would be their biggest victory of the season.